kiai points in your kata?

Most ryu/styles of karate and Tae Kwon Do practice kata/ forms. It is common for the kata to contain one or more kiai or spirit yells. A common mis-conception is the way the sound is made. Often student will yell hai-ya. This is not what the old masters intended. The kiai is a sound, not a word. It is used to focus the mind, body, and breath. Done correctly the kiai will allow the martial artists to generate much greater power for a fraction of a second. The proper way to develop you kiai would take too much time to put into writing here. Suffice it to say that it is slightly different for each person. It is a quick short sound that comes from the diaphragm, not the voice box.

When practicing kata there are usually only one or two places where you should kiai. Now it has become all to common for those performing kata in competition to kiai often during their performance. This is not the way the old masters practiced kata. It is believed that in the early day of karate, the kiai was not done at any particular place while practicing a kata. The old master would kiai if and only if they felt the urge and need to kiai. As kerate began to be practiced by larger and larger groups, the kiai points where assigned to a particular move. This was not so much because it belonged there. The kiai points were done at a certain place to make group practice more uniform. By having the students all kiai at the same place, there would be less distraction during class. It would be easy to imagine a large class where the students would kiai when ever they wanted to. It would be very distracting to say the least.

Things I'd change about the way the martial arts are practiced.

There are many things that could be improved by changes in the way martial artists train. For many years, there have been many misconceptions that have changed the way martial arts are taught and practiced. If an instructor is taught incorrectly, he in turn will teach his students incorrectly. This has happened for so many generations that it is difficult to know how things should be done. Because the subject is to broad to discuss in this forum, I will mention only a few things here. In the future I will occasionally continue to post on this subject.

At first glance, I see several things that most every karate or Tae Kwon do student does incorrectly. The knife-hand strike is practiced incorrectly. Most of us were taught to form a straight hand with the fingers together and the thumb bent and tensed against the hand on the palm side. The correct way is to place the thumb straight and laying parallel to the index finger. The hand is not tensed tightly. Formed this way the knife hand is more effective. Striking is not on the surface, but strikes are carried through the target. Strikes done with the hand only loosly tensed are known as "Dead-hand" strikes.

The basic twisting (cork-screw) punch is also practice incorrectly by most martial artists. There are several different ways that this is commonly practiced. Most are incorrect. How can I say that? Even though various ryu/styles perform techniques differently, there are reasons why some techniques should be done a certain way. It is common to see many punch so that at the end of the punch, the elbow is locked straight. Along with this the fist is rotated until at the striking point the first two knuckles are parallel to the floor and the palm side of the hand is facing straight down. The correct method is a little different. When punching the arm does not extend until locked. Rather the punch extends only until the point of the elbow is pointing down towards the floor at a 45 degree angle. The fist has at this point rotated only so that the first two knuckles are at a 45 degree angle to the floor. Overall the punch is shorter that the locked arm punch. However, it can be more effective. This punch was originally designed to hit pressure points on the attacker. One target is the soft inverted "V" formed by the bottom ribs. The striking point is the very top of the "V" just under the sternum but below the ribs. The locked arm punch will allow only one knuckle at most to strik the soft spot there. The ribs tend to get in the way. With the fist at 45 degrees the first knuckle will easily strike correctly and allows the second knuckle to strike the point next to the first one. In this way two points can be struck at the same time. The strike is even more effective if at the last second the strike is directed in and down. Use caution when practicing this. Very little power is needed to make this strike work effectively. NEVER strike this target hard.

Proper use of the word Bo

Proper use of the word Bo

The use of the bo is common to many martial arts. The use of the word bo is mis-used by many martial artists. Even many high ranked martial artists mis-use the word. Most likely it is because most martial artists have never been taught the correct use of the word themselves. First the word bo simply means wooden stick or staff. The word bo can be used to describe a wooden staff of different lengths. It is common to use the word bo to mean the six foot long staff. Although that is ok in practice the most descriptive name of the six foot bo is Rokushaku-bo. This indicates a staff of six shaku in length. The Japanese shaku is close to 12 inches. The shaku in fact is 11.93 inches long. Therefore the rokushaku-bo is for all practical purposes six feet in length.

The mis-use is seen when a martial artists calls the staff a bo-staff. Since the word bo means staff in the first place calling the bo a bo-staff is like saying stick-stick.

Another point of confusion comes when using the word to indicate more than one bo. For instance I have heard others say I have several bo’s. The word bo does not require an ‘s’ on the end to indicate more than one bo. Many Japanese words follow this too. To tell if the word refers to more than one item you must pay attention to how it is used in a sentence. And by the way, I own many bo.

Proper use of martial arts titles

Proper use of martial arts titles

We as westerners tend to try to apply English grammar rules to our use of Japanese words that are written in English. Such common titles as: Sensei, Shihan, Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi, Soke, ...etc. Are often misused. When referring to one Sensei there is no problem. The mis-use comes when using the words to refer to several people of the same title. Westerners tend to add an ‘s’ to the end of the title making Sensei into Senseis. This is not proper. The word Sensei can mean one Sensei or it can refer to several depending on how it is used. Similarly, I often here the word Soke’s used to refer to several Soke. Again the word Soke does not need a ‘s’ to indicate more than one Soke.

The second mistake westerners tend to make. Here in the U.S.A. we use Mr. Before a persons last name. Often I will be introduced as, Mr. Stanley in public. As a result we tend to introduce martial artists be placing their title before their name too. Many times I have been introduced to other martial artists as, Sensei Stanley. In Japan and Okinawa it is done differently. The sir name or title is placed after the name. In Japan I would be introduced as Stanley Sensei. Some of you may be aware of a Japanese name being followed by San in common Japanese. Therefore if Mr. Yamato were to be introduced he would be introduced as Yamoto-San.

Proper uniform for martial arts training

Proper uniform for martial arts training

So what is a proper martial arts uniform. Since there are so many different styles and organizations it is not possible to give one correct answer. What I can do is to tell you what is traditionally correct for most Japanese and Okinawan styles. Traditionally it is proper to wear a uniform that is either solid white or solid black. While most ryu/styles use the solid white Gi, others use only solid black. In either case the use of patches is usually the same. Traditionally one or at most two patches are displayed on your Gi. Most common is the organization or style patch placed over the heart. If allowed a second patch for the branch dojo may be displayed as well. For may years that was all that was allowed in traditional dojo. Now with the popularity of tournament karate, things have gotten out of hand. At most tournaments it is common to see multi colored and designer Gi. Often these Gi are covered with multiple patches. Another recent practice is to have the back of the Gi jacket printed with large letters spelling the school name or other information. While this may be acceptable to many Americans, it is considered rude by traditional standards. As for me my students are allowed only solid black uniforms. No more than two approved patches are to be displayed. They may have their name in Japanese written down the right lapel if they choose to. No printing of any kind is allowed on the back of the GI. Also, The wearing of a black T-shirts under the Gi is mandatory for female students. Male students are not allowed to wear a T-shirt with their GI. Although other martial artists are free to wear what ever they choose to wear, we stick to these simple standards. Fancy uniforms do nothing to improve ones abilities. Only much proper training will improved a students abilities. Those that excel will easily be recognized for their abilities. Besides, the martial arts are seen to many times in a carnival unrealistic view rather than the serious fighting art that it was and should be.

Bowing etiquette for the martial artists

Bowing etiquette for the martial artists

For nearly forty years I have watched the way various martial artists bow to others. There is much confusion as to what is the proper way to bow. A common belief is that the lower the bow the more respectful it is intended to be. For many years I too believed this to be the case. Now I’m of a different opinion. It seems to me that the use of the bow in public the martial arts use of the bow have become confused. In years past it was common if two Japanese men met in public to bow to each other. In such a case one might bow to the other. The other may then bow more deeply as a sign of greater respect. Sometimes this would continue back and forth with each bowing deeper than the last time. Martial artists many time also bow deeper than is necessary. My martial arts teachers taught me that the bow should be done as follows. I should stand with my feet together (toes pointed out 45 degrees) hands placed at my the sides of my thighs, Head up with my neck straight. With my eyes straight ahead, I should bow from the waist only until I could not see the face of the person to which I’m bowing. My sensei explained that it is only necessary to bow this far so as to not be able to see the other persons face and yet allow the other person to be able to see the top of my head. Since the top of the head is one of the places that is vulnerable to attack, exposing it shows a sing of respect and trust.

Bowing in this way would never be done to anyone that you do not respect or trust. One thing that I see often is the practice of a martial artists bowing while keeping his eyes on the person he is bowing to. When I ask someone about this the martial artist said that his instructor told him to keep his eyes on the person he was bowing to so that he might not be attacked while off guard. This does not seem right to me. I don’t know about anyone else, but I would not bow to anyone that I thought might attack me while I was bowing. I was taught that bowing while looking at the other person was rude, impolite, and a show of distrust. If that is the case why bow at all.

While I’m on the subject, I find another common practice while bowing strange. While attending tournaments and other martial arts events, I see many who slap their hands against their sides as they bring their feet together to bow. It is unclear where this practice came from. As far as I am aware no traditional style bows this way in the orient. Possibly this grew out of tournament competition here in the U.S.A. In any case I find it annoying and un-necessary.